Leading Harvest Privacy Policy

Effective Date: June 24, 2024.

This Privacy Policy applies to information that Leading Harvest, a Virginia nonstock corporation, qualified as a non-profit organization under section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code (“Leading Harvest,” “our,” “we” or “us”), collects (a) on our organization website, found at [https://www.leadingharvest.org] (“Website”), (b) on our online community website, found at, [https://leading-harvest.circle.so/s/start-here] (“Leading Harvest Community”), (c) through your enrollment with us as a program user or program supporter, (d) through your participation in any of our programs, offerings, or events, or (e) through the use of any services, features, technologies, and offerings made available through the Website and Leading Harvest Community (items (a) to (d) are collectively, the “Services”). 

Your privacy is important to us.  Please read this Privacy Policy to learn about the information that WE collect from you and how WE use that information. BY USING THE SERVICES, YOU CONSENT TO THE COLLECTION, USE AND TRANSFER OF YOUR PERSONAL DATA AS DESCRIBED IN THIS PRIVACY POLICY.  IF YOU DO NOT AGREE WITH ANY PART OF THIS PRIVACY POLICY, THEN PLEASE DO NOT USE THE SERVICES.

Please be aware that THE SERVICES ARE INTENDED FOR USE BY RESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES AND ALL LEADING HARVEST Services and systems (INCLUDING INFORMATION COLLECTED BY LEADING HARVEST) are housed on servers in the United States. If you are located outside of the United States, information we collect (including cookies) are processed and stored in the United States, which may not offer the same level of privacy protection as the country where you reside or are a citizen. By using the Services and providing information to us, you consent to the transfer to and processing of the information in the United States.

  1. SCOPE

This Privacy Policy describes the information that we collect (directly or indirectly) and why we collect it, what we do with the information we collect and how you can manage your Personal Data (defined below). Leading Harvest is the controller of the Personal Data collected through the Services.

2. INFORMATION WE COLLECT

“Personal Data” is information that directly or indirectly identifies you. Below are some examples of the Personal Data we may collect through the Services:

  • Identifiers. Such as a real name, photo, address, Internet Protocol address, email address, telephone number, education, employment, social media identifiers, or other similar identifiers.
  • Commercial information. Information about your business operations, transactions with us, and information required for payment processing, such as credit or payment card number, expiration date, cvv number, billing address, company name, and other data required for payment processing. 
  • Internet or other similar network activity. Such as browsing history, search history, information on a user’s interaction with the Services.

We may link together different types of information or link information to Personal Data.  If linked information directly or indirectly identifies an individual person, we treat the linked information as Personal Data. In this Privacy Policy, to “process” Personal Data means to perform any operation on Personal Data, whether or not by automated means, such as collection, recording, organizing, storing, adapting, use, disclosure, combining, erasing or destroying. Where we need to collect Personal Data by law or to perform the Services, and you do not provide that data when requested, we may not be able to provide you with the Services or access to the Leading Harvest Community. In this case, we may have to cancel a Service you have with us, your enrollment with us, or your Leading Harvest Community account, but we will notify you if this is the case.

3. HOW WE COLLECT INFORMATION

We collect information as follows.

  • When you enroll with Leading Harvest. When you enroll with Leading Harvest as a program user or program supporter, we collect your name, email address, address, and telephone number. We collect this information so that we may provide you with Services, contact you about your enrollment, and keep you informed about Leading Harvest and our Services. 
  • When you register for a Leading Harvest Community account:  When you register for a Leading Harvest Community account, we collect your name, email address, and password. We also collect other information you choose to provide as part of your account and profile setup, such as address, telephone number, education, employment, and photo. We collect this information so that we may: set up your Leading Harvest Community account, contact you about your account, provide you with access to our content and Services, and provide you with information about our Services.
  • When you use the Services: When you use the Services, we may ask for contact information such as your name, address, telephone number, email address, contact preferences, employer/company, and information related to our Services. We collect this information so that we may: keep you informed about Leading Harvest, respond to your inquiries, and provide you with information about our Services.
  • Correspondence. If you send us personal correspondence, such as emails or letters, contact us via telephone, we may save the information in a profile specific to you. We also collect feedback, questions and information that you provide to us for technical support, surveys, and testimonials. We will collect and use any data files you send to us for troubleshooting and performing and improving our Services. When you contact us, phone conversations or chat sessions with our representatives may be monitored and recorded in order to improve our Services, and facilitate the processing and resolution of your request or complaint.
  • When you make a payment to Leading Harvest: If you make a payment to Leading Harvest, we will ask for payment information and other information requested for processing your payment. We may use a third-party payment processor to assist with securely processing your payment information. We do not store your payment information that is submitted through a third-party payment processor and do not control and are not responsible for the payment processor or its collection or use of your information.
  • User Contributions. You may provide information or content to be published or displayed (hereinafter, “posted”) on the Leading Harvest Community or transmitted to other users of the Leading Harvest Community (collectively, “User Contributions”). Your User Contributions are posted on and transmitted to others at your own risk. We cannot control the actions of other users of the Leading Harvest Community with whom you may choose to share your User Contributions. We cannot and do not guarantee that unauthorized persons will not view your User Contributions.
  • Through Server Logs: A server log is a list of the activities that a server performs. Leading Harvest’s servers automatically collect and store in server logs your search queries, Internet Protocol (IP) address, browser type, browser language, the date and time of your request and referral URL and certain cookies that identify your browser or Leading Harvest account.
  • Cookies and Similar Technologies: Leading Harvest uses cookies (small, often encrypted, text files that are stored on your computer or mobile device) and similar technologies (“Cookies”) to provide the Services and help collect data. Our Cookies procedure in Section 4 below explains how we use Cookies to collect information about the way you use the Services and how you can control them.
  • Information From Other Sources. We may obtain both personal and non-personal information about you from business partners, contractors, suppliers, hosted service provider, and other third parties and add it to our account information or other information we have collected. We and third parties we engage may combine information we collect from you over time and across our Services with information obtained from other sources. This helps us improve the information’s overall accuracy and completeness, and also helps us better tailor our interactions with you.
  • Through Social Media. If you interact with us or our other users regarding Leading Harvest and our Services on any social media: (a) the Personal Data that you submit by and through such social media can be read, collected and/or used by us (depending on your social media privacy settings) as described in this Privacy Policy, and (b) where we respond to any interaction with you on social media, your account name/handle may be viewable by any and all users of our social media accounts. We are not responsible for the Personal Data that you choose to submit or link on any social media. Social media operates independently from Leading Harvest, and we are not responsible for social media interfaces or privacy or security practices. We encourage you to review the privacy policies and settings of any social media with which you interact to help you understand their privacy practices. If you have questions about the security and privacy settings of any social media that you use, please refer to the applicable privacy notices or policies.

4. COOKIES & SIMILAR TECHNOLOGIES

How We Use Cookies

We use Cookies to track how you use the Services by providing usage statistics. Information supplied to us using cookies helps us to provide a better online experience to our users. While this information on its own may not constitute your “personal data”, we may combine the information we collect via Cookies with personal data that we have collected from you to learn more about how you use the Services to improve them.

Types of Cookies

We use both session cookies (which expire once you close your web browser) and persistent cookies (which stay on your device until you delete them). To make it easier for you to understand why we need them, the Cookies we use on the Services can be grouped into the following categories:

  • Strictly Necessary: These Cookies are necessary for the Services to work properly. They include any essential authentication and authorization cookies for the Services.
  • Functionality: These Cookies enable technical performance and allow us to “remember” the choices you make while browsing the Services, including any preferences you set. They also include sign-in and authentication cookies and IDs that enable you to return without additional sign-in.
  • Performance/Analytics: These Cookies allow us to collect certain information about how you navigate or use the Services running on your device. They help us understand which areas you use and what we can do to improve them.
  • Marketing and Technical Support: These Cookies are used to deliver relevant information related to the Services to an identified machine or other device (not a named or otherwise identifiable person) which has previously been used to visit the Services. Some of these types of Cookies on the Services are operated by third parties with our permission and are used to identify advertising sources that are effectively driving users to the Services.

Third-Party Cookies

To enhance our content and to deliver a better online experience for our users, we sometimes embed images and videos from other websites on the Services or we place third-party Cookies by our business partners or service providers on the Leading Harvest Community or Website (for example, third-party Cookies that analyze the usage statistics relating to the Leading Harvest Community or Website). You may be presented with Cookies from these third parties. Please note that we do not control these Cookies. The privacy practices of these third parties will be governed by the third parties’ own privacy statements or policies. We are not responsible for the security or privacy of any information collected by these third parties, using cookies or other means. You should consult and review the relevant third-party privacy statement or policy for information on how these cookies are used and how you can control them.

Below is a representative list of third-party Cookies placed on the Leading Harvest Community or Website.

WordPress.  We use WordPress, a third-party website provider, to operate our Website. WordPress uses cookies to provide, customize, evaluate, improve, promote, and protect our Website. WordPress’ use of cookies is not subject to our control. We are not responsible for WordPress’ cookies practices, which are governed by WordPress’ cookies policy, available at https://wordpress.org/about/privacy/cookies/.

Circle. We use CircleCo Inc. (“Circle”) as a third-party hosted service provider of the Leading Harvest Community. Circle uses cookies and web beacons to improve its products and services and the user experience, understand usage, and count visits. Circle’s use of cookies is not subject to our control. We are not responsible for Circle’s practices regarding cookies and other tracking technology, which are governed by Circle’s privacy policy, available at https://app.circle.so/privacy.

Other Similar Technologies

Leading Harvest web pages may use other technologies such as web beacons to help deliver cookies on the Services and count users who have visited those websites. We also may include web beacons in our promotional email messages or newsletters to determine whether you open and act on them as well as for statistical purposes.

In addition to standard cookies and web beacons, the Services can also use other similar technologies to store and read data files on your computer. This is typically done to maintain your preferences or to improve speed and performance by storing certain files locally.

How to Control and Delete Cookies

Cookies can be controlled, blocked or restricted through your web browser settings. Information on how to do this can be found within the Help section of your browser. All Cookies are browser specific. Therefore, if you use multiple browsers or devices to access websites, you will need to manage your cookie preferences across these environments.

If you are using a mobile device to access the Services, you will need to refer to your instruction manual or other help/settings resource to find out how you can control cookies on your device.

Please note: If you restrict, disable or block any or all Cookies from your web browser or mobile or other device, the Services may not operate properly, and you may not have access to the Services available through the Services. Leading Harvest shall not be liable for any impossibility to use the Services or degraded functioning thereof, where such are caused by your settings and choices regarding cookies.

To learn more about cookies and web beacons, visit www.allaboutcookies.org.

Do Not Track: Some web browsers (including Safari, Internet Explorer, Firefox and Chrome) incorporate a “Do Not Track” (“DNT”) or similar feature that signals to websites that a user does not want to have his or her online activity and behavior tracked.  If a website that responds to a particular DNT signal receives the DNT signal, the browser can block that website from collecting certain information about the browser’s user.  Not all browsers offer a DNT option and DNT signals are not yet uniform.  For this reason, many website operators, including Leading Harvest, do not respond to DNT signals.

5. HOW WE PROCESS PERSONAL DATA

We will only use your Personal Data when the law allows us to. Most commonly, we will use your Personal Data in the following circumstances.

  • Where we need to perform the Services or for our business purposes.
  • Where we need to comply with a legal or regulatory obligation.

Leading Harvest use information collected for the following purposes:

  • To fulfill or meet the reason you provided the information or to provide Services to you;
  • To manage our relationship with you, including notifying you about changes to our terms or Privacy Policy;
  • To process your payments, orders, and transactions;
  • To personalize and develop our Services and improve our offerings;
  • For marketing and promotion;
  • To create, maintain, customize, and secure your account and enrollment with us;
  • To administer and protect our business and the Services including troubleshooting, data analysis, security, testing, system maintenance, support, reporting, technical functionality, hosting of data, and in the context of a business reorganization or group restructuring exercise;
  • To prevent and investigate fraud and other misuses of the Services;
  • To use data analytics to improve our Services, marketing, client relationships and experiences;
  • To provide you with support, to communicate with you and respond to your inquiries, including to investigate and address your concerns and monitor and improve our responses; or
  • To make suggestions and recommendations to you about Services that may be of interest to you.

6. HOW WE SHARE INFORMATION

We may share Personal Data collected via the Services with service providers. Leading Harvest shares information with Leading Harvest’s other third-party service providers that perform Services on our behalf, such as payment processing, web hosting, hosted services, video encoding, or data storage. Additionally, we may share your information with companies that are conducting marketing and advertising to benefit Leading Harvest. These third-party companies may use your contact information for communications and marketing purposes that support our activities. You are under no obligation to respond and the companies are restricted from using your contact information for any other purpose. Leading Harvest requires that any service provider with which we share Personal Data agrees to safeguard it in substantially the same manner as Leading Harvest has described in this Privacy Policy and in accordance with all applicable laws.

Leading Harvest may aggregate information collected though the Services and remove identifiers so that the information no longer identifies or can be used to identify an individual (“Anonymized Information”).  Leading Harvest may share Anonymized Information with third parties and does not limit third parties’ use of the Anonymized Information because it is no longer Personal Data.

We may share Personal Data if we sell or transfer all or a portion of our business or assets, if we are acquired by or merge with another company, or in the event of bankruptcy. Leading Harvest requires that the shared Personal Data remain subject to the promises made in the then-current Privacy Policy, unless and until you agree to a new privacy terms.

Applicable law may require Leading Harvest to disclose your Personal Data if: (i) reasonably necessary to comply with legal process (such as a court order, subpoena or search warrant) or other legal requirements; (ii)  disclosure would mitigate Leading Harvest’s liability in an actual or threatened lawsuit; (iii) necessary to protect  legal rights of Leading Harvest, users, program users, program supporters, business partners or other interested parties; or (iv) necessary for the prevention or detection of crime (subject in each case to applicable law).

7. THIRD-PARTY PROVIDERS

We use WordPress as a website provider of our Website and Circle as a hosted service provider of the Leading Harvest Community. Circle and WordPress may collect Personal Data from you that is not subject to our control. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of Circle or WordPress, which is governed by their respective privacy policies, available at https://app.circle.so/privacy and https://wordpress.org/about/privacy/cookies/.

8. EXTERNAL LINKS

The Services contain links to third-party websites and services, including links to social media. We are not responsible for any of the content or features or functionality of other linked websites or services. We are also not responsible for the privacy practices and the terms and conditions of use for any external websites or services. The linked websites and services may collect Personal Data from you that is not subject to our control. The data collection practices of linked third-party websites and services will be governed by that third-party’s privacy policy and terms of use.

9. MINOR’S PRIVACY

The Services are not directed to or intended for use by minors under the age of 18.  Consistent with the requirements of applicable law, if we learn that we have received any information directly from a minor without his or her parent’s verified consent, we will use that information only to respond directly to that minor (or his or her parent or legal guardian) to inform the minor that he or she cannot use the Services and subsequently will delete that information.

10. SECURITY OF PERSONAL DATA

Leading Harvest takes precautions intended to help protect information that we process but no system or electronic data transmission is completely secure. Any transmission of your Personal Data is at your own risk and we expect that you will use appropriate security measures to protect your Personal Data.

You are responsible for maintaining the security of your account credentials for the Services. Leading Harvest will treat access to the Services through your account credentials as authorized by you. Unauthorized access to password-protected or secure areas is prohibited and may lead to criminal prosecution.  We may suspend your use of all or part of the Services without notice if we suspect or detect any breach of security. If you believe that information you provided to us is no longer secure, please notify us immediately using the contact information provided below.

If we become aware of a breach that affects the security of your Personal Data, we will provide you with notice as required by applicable law. To the extent permitted by applicable law, Leading Harvest will provide any such notice that Leading Harvest must provide to you under applicable law at your account’s email address. By using the Services, you agree to accept notice electronically.

11. DATA RETENTION

We retain Personal Data in identifiable form only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which the Personal Data was provided to Leading Harvest or, if longer, to comply with legal obligations, to resolve disputes, to enforce agreements and similar essential purposes. To determine the appropriate retention period for Personal Data, we consider the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the Personal Data, the potential risk of harm from unauthorized use or disclosure of your Personal Data, the purposes for which we process your Personal Data and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal requirements.

12. ACCESSING AND UPDATING YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION 

You may request access to your Personal Data or correct and error or omission in your Personal Data by contacting us at [member@leadingharvest.org] or write us at: [member@leadingharvest.org]. We will make good faith efforts to resolve requests to correct inaccurate information except where the request is unreasonable, requires disproportionate technical effort or expense, jeopardizes the privacy of others, or would be impractical.

­13. CHANGES TO THE PRIVACY POLICY

If we change this Privacy Policy, we will post the updated Privacy Policy and its effective date on this page.  If Leading Harvest makes material changes that reduce your privacy rights, Leading Harvest will notify you in advance by sending you an email and/or by posting a notice in the Services.

14. HOW TO CONTACT US

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns about how we handle your Personal Data, you may contact us at [member@leadingharvest.org] or write to us at: [member@leadingharvest.org].